RIDR
by Edge of the Dark
Summary: What happens when Ruby and Yang aren't the only students from Signal to begin a tenure at Beacon. A new team is formed and as new bonds are forged, the first year students of Beacon realize that things are shaping up to be an interesting year.
1. Arriving at Beacon

**_The world is a dark place. And no matter how much we try to fight that darkness, it always returns. But it is those flickering lights that make life worth living, no matter how fleetingly they remain with us. We live for them, and do our best to become a light for others. The light of others never illuminated my world. My heart has been shrouded in shadows since the day I was born. I was shapen in shadows and forged by darkness. I thrived in the deepest shadows, no longer concerned with gaining a light of my own. I was of the darkness and that suited me just fine. Until I met her. She became my light, my sun that drove away the shadows that had been my only companion for as long as I could remember. I have finally learned what I had been denied throughout my life, and I will not lose it. Any who threaten my light will learn fear of the dark. Who am I? I am Death._**

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me!" a busty blonde girl exclaimed happily, engulfing a smaller red haired girl wearing a red cloak in a crushing hug. "This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop." the younger girl ground out, her lungs being crushed by her sisters exuberance.

"But I'm so proud of you!" the older girl cheered, releasing her sibling and bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly.

"Really sis, it was nothing." the younger girl said a bit shyly.

"Don't be so quick to dismiss your achievements Ruby." a hoarse voice said from off to their left. Looking out the window was a black haired boy, about their age, with striking orange eyes. He was dressed in black pants, black boots with dark green clasps, a dark green long sleeved shirt, black, metal plated gloves with green bandages wrapped around his arms and the bottom of his legs. Two folded up weapons hung from his hip, one identical to the other. His fingers made a metallic clink as he tapped them against the handrail.

"Rathan and Yang are right Ruby." a deeper voice said, a hand placing itself on to to Ruby's head. Looking up Ruby stared into the dark eyes of her seven and a half foot tall friend, Draeg. This one was dressed in dark red draconic themed armor, with a dragon head one one shoulder. Hanging from his back was a massive sword, almost as tall and broad as the warrior who wielded it.

"Yeah!" Yang cheered again. "Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees!"

"I don't want to be the bee's knees, okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees!" Ruby exploded. "I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's with you?" Yang asked, confused by her sister's behavior. "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited! I just-I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Ruby said looking down.

"Who cares what they think?" Rathan asked, making Ruby look over at him. "You earned your place here."

"Anyone who disagrees doesn't know you." Draeg said, a bit more softly.

Any further conversation was cut off as a voice from the news, playing from a holographic projector a little way away reached them. "The robbery was lead, by nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department." The projection itself was showing the mug shot of a man wearing a white coat, with ratty orange hair, swept mostly over his right eye. "Back to you Lisa." the voice said, as the projection switched to show a news anchor, named Lisa Lavender by the caption at the bottom.

"Thank you Cyril." Lisa said. "In other news, this Saturday's Faunus civil rights movement turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony." As she spoke, a picture of protesters came up, all of them possessing the animalistic features that set the faunus apart from the rest of the world. This picture was then replaced by a stylized red wolf head on a white background with three red claw marks going through it. "The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-"

Before she could finish the projection cut off, only to be replaced by the three dimensional hologram of a beautiful blonde woman with green eyes. She was dressed neatly in a button up white blouse that showed a portion of her cleavage, a black corset and pencil skirt, black tights and boots, a rod of some kind strapped to her right boot, all topped of with the stylized cape hanging from her shoulders. There was a wolf whistle from a boy in a white hoodie further down the plane. "Hello and welcome to Beacon." the woman said.

"Who's that?" Yang asked, stepping up behind Ruby.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

"You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy." the woman was saying. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." Finishing her speech, the image of the woman faded away.

"Oh wow!" Ruby gasped, seeing the view from the plane. "Look," she said, spotting something in the distance, "You can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all." she said softly.

"Beacon's our home now." Yang said placing an arm around Ruby's shoulder. Suddenly, the sound of groaning caught their ears. Looking over the four teens saw a blonde haired boy gagging and retching, desperately trying not to hurl. "Well I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang shrugged.

"Pathetic." Rathan muttered, shaking his head in disgust.

"It was a nice moment while it lasted." Ruby told them.

"I wonder who we're going to meet?" Yang wondered.

"Whoever they are," Draeg said, "I hope they don't throw up on my shoes. By the way, Yang…"

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" Yang chanted, shaking her foot around as if she was trying to throw the puke off of it.

"Yang, get away from me! Get away, get away!" Ruby shrieked, not wanting to get any on her.

* * *

Beacon itself was a massive, sprawling campus, with many towers and other magnetic buildings, all built on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, complete with small waterfalls. However the only sight that interested the first passenger off the ship however, was a trashcan, in which he hurriedly emptied his stomach's contents.

"Wowww!" Yang and Ruby both breathed appreciatively as they exited the airship. However, as the first of their fellow students crossed their line of vision, Ruby immediately entered what Draeg called her 'chibi mode' going starry eyed over the many new weapons.

"Ooh, ooh! Sis! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!"

"Easy there little sister." Yang said, pulling Ruby back by the hood as she made to follow the girl with the fire sword.

"Ow, ow, ow." Ruby muttered, getting slightly choked by her cloak as Yang pulled her back.

"They're just weapons." Draeg sighed. He was never going to understand Ruby's fangirl like obsession with weapons.

"Just weapons?!" Ruby said, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!"

"Well why can't you swoon over your own weapon?" Yang asked. "Aren't you happy with it?"

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose." Ruby said, unfolding her weapon from its stored form on her back and hugging it. The weapon in question was a massive mechanical scythe, with a scope and firing mechanism. None of this was surprising to her friends however, who were all well aware of her weapons capabilities. "I just really like seeing new ones" Ruby continued. "It's like meeting new people. But better." She finished shyly.

"Ruby come on!" Yang said, grabbing her sisters hood and pulling it down over her face. "Why don't you try and go make some friends of your own."

"But why would I need friends when I have you guys?" Ruby asked nervously.

"I'm going to scout the area." Rathan said, walking off, giving a two finger salute.

"I'll go back make sure he doesn't kill anyone." Draeg sighed.

"Uh," Yang said as a group of people appeared behind her. "Myfriendsareherenow. Gottagocatchupbye!" she said extremely quickly as she and her group sped off, leaving Ruby with her head and body literally spinning.

"Wait, where are you going? Aren't we supposed to go to our dorm? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms? I don't know what I'm doing…" she moaned dizzily, just before she tripped, sending white suitcases flying.

"What are you doing?" a girl snapped.

"Uh, sorry!" Ruby said, sitting up.

"Sorry?" the girl snapped. The girl in question was almost all white. White hair pulled back in an off center ponytail, pale skin, a white dress, a white jacket with a red interior, and white boots, not to mention the rune engraved rapier at her hip. "Do you have any idea the kind of damage you could have caused?"

"Uh…" Ruby said, handing the girl one of the cases.

"Give me that!" the girl snapped, snatching the case. Opening it up she pulled out what looked like a glass vial filled with red powder, and stopped with a cork. "This is Dust, mined and purified at the Schnee Quarry."

"Uh…" Ruby said again as she climbed to her feet, really not sure how to respond to the angry girls rant.

"What are you brain dead?" the other girl snapped, closing the case, sending out a cloud of blue powder, and shaking the red vial, releasing some of it's contents with each shake. "Fire, water, lightning, energy!" As Ruby stood, the cloud of dust reached her face, giving her the strong need to sneeze. "Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?" the girl continued to rant, shaking the loosely corked vial even more.

Finally Ruby couldn't hold it in any more and sneezed. There was a blast of fire, a few bolts of lightning, and even a small amount of ice in the explosion that followed. The explosion engulfed the two girls and sent the vial in question shooting through the air only to be batted out of the air by a black clad boy who didn't even bother to turn around. The vial, having been knocked in another direction proceeded to roll along the ground until it came to a stop at the feet of a dark haired girl reading a book. Reaching down the girl picked up the vial, and only took her eyes off the book to spin the vial around in order to see the snowflake emblem emblazoned on its surface.

"Unbelievable!" the white haired girl was shrieking. "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" she said, stamping her foot, shaking off the loose layer of soot that covered her. Ruby was poking her index fingers together and looked like she was trying to shrink in on herself. Off to the side, the boy in black turned to face them, and looked at the two girls, like he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby tried to apologize again.

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" the girl sneered.

"Well, I-" Ruby tried, but the other girl wasn't interested.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school! It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters! So, watch where you're going!" the girl continued to rant.

"Hey, I said I was sorry princess." Ruby snapped, finally having gotten fed up with the other girls attitude.

"Its heiress actually," the girl who picked up the vial said walking over, none of them noticing the boy on the ground starting to sit up, watching them all carefully.. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." The girl was dressed in a white top, covered by a black corset, and black muffler around her neck. She had a black bow in her hair, and a single black sleeve not attached to her shirt on her right arm. She also wore purple tights and black high heeled shoes. One of the most noticeable parts of her however were her yellow, cat like eyes.

"Finally." Weiss said, looking smug. "Some recognition."

"The same company," the other girl went on. "Infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

"What? How dare- The nerve of-" Weiss spluttered angrily white Ruby snickered, enjoying seeing the bitchy girl take down a peg or two.

"And besides," a male voice called out. "If you really are the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, they you really should know better than to go carrying the flinging the stuff around like that. It is highly volatile you know." the speaker was the same boy who had wolf whistled at the blonde woman on the ship. But the oddest thing about him was that he was lying down on one of the street lamps that lined the walkway. He wore a loose white hoodie over a chainmail shirt, beige cargo pants, white combat boots and wore several ammo belts. Hanging from his hips were also two of the largest and deadliest looking pistols Ruby had ever seen. His hood was up, covering his hair, but his face had an easy going grin on it. He hopped of the light post and walked over he leaned up against the black clad teen. This one was dressed almost exactly the opposite. He wore loose fitting black pants, block boots, a black shirt and a sleeveless long black coat. He also had two silver bracers on his forearms, a metal cord spiraling around his heavily scarred arms form the bracers up to his shoulders where they became covered by the coat. His pale skin and slanted eyes hinted at a Mistralian background. The boy in black nodded at him, and the white one turned his attention back to the three girls. Reaching over he plucked the vial of dust out of the bow wearing girls hands and inspected it. "Yep. A loose covering at best. You really should learn how to handle this stuff." he said presenting the bottle to Weiss, a cocky grin still on his face. The heiress's blue eyes glared daggers at the other boy but she took the vial and stormed off without another word, leaving her servants to pick up the mess.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called after her.

"I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." she murmured. "So what's-" she started to say, but noticed the girl in black walking off, ignoring the boy in white's not so subtle conversation or flirtations, with the boy in black walking beside them. Ruby slumped to the ground and fell backwards. "Welcome to Beacon." she told herself sadly.

Then a shadow covered her eyes. Opening them, she found herself staring at a blonde haired blue eyed boy in jeans and a white breastplate. "Hey." he said, extending a brown fingerless glove covered hand. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." Ruby said, taking the hand and allowing Jaune to pull her to her feet. Then a thought struck her and she had to laugh. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

* * *

Rathan's sharp orange eyes swept around the new environment, taking in every detail, memorizing everything. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw an explosion near where they'd left Ruby and Yang, but he knew they would both be okay, if by any chance they were near that explosion. "Hey, are you almost done?" Draeg shouted up at him. "It's almost time for the orientation!"

Deciding that he had seen enough for now Rathan leapt off his perch, flipping and spinning in order to slow his descent, the green clad teen landed in a crouch on the balls of his feet. "It's this way." he told his friend, before turning and striding towards where he had seen the students congregating.

"At least there are some benefits of having you map a place out when you first get there." Draeg mused. Rathan didn't respond, so Draeg to the opportunity to analyze his companion. The shadows under Rathan's eyes, while always present were deeper and darker than usual. He was going to have him take his medicine tonight, or they wouldn't be able to guarantee landing on the same team tomorrow. The Beacon team selection process was kept a well guarded secret, so they weren't going to take any chances. "Now come on, we're going to be late. " Draeg said, leading the way. They entered the orientation hall just as the other students were starting to trickle in.

"Hey Gigantor! Down in the front!" Someone shouted from behind them. Without turning around Draeg held up his middle finger. Back behind them, the boy in white snorted at the red swordsman's response to his comment, making the boy in black smirk.

Hey guys!" Yang said, popping up next to them, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders.

"Yang." Rathan greeted, ducking out of the embrace.

"Have you guys seen Ruby yet?" she asked, looking around in the crowd, hoping to see her little sister.

"Not yet." Draeg said with a shrug.

"Behind us. With Vomit Boy from the plane." Rathan said, never taking his eyes off the stage.

"I'll never understand how you do that." Draeg shook his head.

"Ruby, over here! We saved you a spot!" Yang called out, waving a hand over her head to catch her sister's attention. Ruby said something to her new friend, then sped over, leaving the boy to say something to himself before wandering off. "So how's your first day going little sister?" Yang asked, still incredibly happy.

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby snapped.

"Yikes, meltdown already?" Yang winced.

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice…"

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang grinned.

"Pssh! I wish!" Ruby snapped. "I tripped over some crabby girls luggage, and she yelled at me-" Here both Rathan and Draeg narrowed their eyes dangerously. "And then I sneezed," Ruby continued. "And then I exploded. And I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling-"

"You!" A voice shouted from directly behind Ruby causing her to jump into Draeg's arms.

"Oh God, it's happening again!" Ruby cried out. Turning around the others saw a white haired girl with bright blue eyes, glaring with her hands on her hips. "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" She half scolded, half shouted.

"Oh my God, you really exploded." Yang said with a deadpan expression on her face, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It was an accident." Ruby told Yang. "It was an accident!" she repeated, more insistently to the the Schnee heiress. Before she could say anything else, the snow haired girl held up a pamphlet that read 'Dust for Dummies, and other Inadequate Individuals.' "What's this?" Ruby asked.

Instead of answering her question, Weiss launched into a tirade of information that would have made an auctioneer proud.

"Um…" Ruby said, while Draeg smiled good naturedly, and Rathan narrowed his eyes at the girl.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked.

"Absolutely." Ruby said, although it sounded more like a question that she was afraid to get wrong.

The girl pushed the pamphlet into Ruby's hands. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

"No loss there." Rathan muttered, still not taking his eyes off the stage.

"What did you say?" the heiress shrieked.

"You heard me princess. Now get lost before you really irritate me." the black haired reaper growled, turning slightly to glare at the stuck up girl out of the corner of his eye. Whatever response Weiss might have had died as she saw those bloodshot orange eyes.

No, she decided, it wasn't his eyes that unnerved her like that. It was the bloodlust. That sheer level of hatred that made her voice die in her throat.

"Rathan, control yourself." a voice, deeper than the reapers rasping snapped, shocking Weiss out of her paralyzed state. "Wait a second. Weiss?" he asked, a look of dawning comprehension on his face. "Is that you?"

"Who are-Draeg?" the white haired girl gasped, getting a good look at the giant's face.

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"I met her before I started Signal." Draeg explained.

"Fascinating." Rathan drawled turning back to the stage. "I don't care."

Draeg sighed, but knew better than to force the issue."I'll keep this brief." A voice said from the stage, before the argument could get more out of hand. Standing on the stage was a man with silver hair, and brown eyes, dressed in a green suit and holding a can in his left hand. Off to his left stood Glynda Goodwitch, the woman who'd addressed them on the plane. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose…direction. You assume knowledge will free you off this. But you time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." The headmaster walked off the stage, and the blonde woman took his place at the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight." She told them. "Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"He seemed kind of... off." Yang said.

"It was almost like he wasn't there." Ruby agreed.

"I don't think that's it." Draeg muttered. Rathan didn't respond, but his eyes tracked the headmaster until he'd left the building. He didn't know exactly how, but he knew one thing. Their lives were about to change forever.

* * *

 _Thank you all for being so patient. This is probably the third time I've rewritten this chapter and I only now feel like posting it. Like I said before, especially since this is a fledgling story please review and tell us what you thing. My friends and I who made team RIDR would love to hear your thoughts. As a special treat, the second chapter will be up soon as well._


	2. Initiation

Night had fallen over Beacon. The students had laid out their sleeping bags, and were all trying to get some rest for the arduous day to come. Ruby was lying on her stomach, dressed in a black tank top with a heart shaped animal head and white pajama pants with flowers on them, topped off with a sleeping mask on her head, writing on a sheet of paper. "It's like a _big_ slumber party!" Yang grinned, plopping down next to her sister, dressed in an orange tank top with a red flaming heart symbol and black booty shorts.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys though." Ruby muttered.

"I know I do." Yang purred, looking around at the male students, most of whom were flexing any trying to get her attention, appreciatively. Jaune, or Vomit Boy as Yang knew him, came strolling across her field of vision. He paused when he noticed her looking, making her repress a gag at his blue, bunny themed onesie. She shifted her view to the side, and grinned noticing the hoodie wearing boy off to one side, dressed in his hoodie and a pair of pajama pants with bullets covering them, striking a pose. But suddenly the blood drained from his face, leaving him looking pale and scared. He quickly grabbed his sleeping bag and dragged it further away, shivering. Yang shot a confused look at Rathan, who wore gray sweatpants, a black long sleeved shirt and black gloves. Draeg, who wore a pair of sweats and nothing else chuckled as he watched the interaction between his friends. When Rathan shrugged, Yang shrugged and turned to her sister."What's that?" she asked her.

"A letter to the gang back at Signal." Ruby replied. "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

"Aww, that's so cute!" Yang squealed. A pillow smacked her in the face.

"Shut up!" Ruby snapped, hugging her other pillow. "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"Wow. Hurtful." Draeg laughed.

"I didn't-No that's not what I-stop teasing me!" Ruby stuttered, her pale cheeks flushing a bright red.

"Relax." Draeg grinned easily. "You've already made one friend. Jaune, right? How hard can it be to make more?"

"I'm pretty sure Weiss negates that." Ruby muttered sullenly.

Draeg gained a pained look on his face at her words. "Look, she's not normally like that. I think the stress of the initiation is getting to her."

"How do you know her anyway?" Yang asked. Draeg had tried to talk to the white haired heiress after Ozpin had finished his speech, but between her anger at Ruby and apparent fear of Rathan, the two reapers drove her off before he could.

Draeg sighed and rubbed his brow. "You guys remember what I told you I did before coming to Signal?" he asked. They nodded. "I met Weiss during my apprenticeship at the SDC. We were put together sometimes so I could tutor her in fine dust control. I guess they thought we'd get along better since we're both around the same age. I guess they were right, but we fell out of contact when I got accepted into Signal."

"So she wasn't always…"

"A bitch?" Rathan finished where Ruby left off.

Draeg glared at his friend. "No, she wasn't. Just give her a chance." he told Ruby.

The conversation tapered off, until a the sound of a match being struck hit their ears. Leaning up against one wall was a girl dressed in a black robe, a black bow still on her head and her yellow eyes fixed on the book in her lap. "That girl…" Ruby murmured.

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything." Ruby said, rolling her eyes as she remembered how everyone had kept walking away earlier.

"Well, now's your chance!" Yang grinned, grabbing her sister's hand and dragging her over to where the bow wearing girl was propped against the wall. "Helloooo!" Yang sang as the approached, getting the girl to lock her golden eyes on them. "I believe you two may know each other." she said, forcing Ruby out from behind her.

The girl gazed at Ruby for a moment. "Aren't you…that girl that exploded?" she asked in a monotone.

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed nervously. "I'm Ruby, but you can just call me Crater…you can just call me Ruby."

"Okay." the girl said fixing her eyes back on her book.

"What are you doing?" Yang hissed.

"I don't know! Help me!" Ruby whispered back.

"So…what's your name?" Yang asked, forcing herself to stay perky and happy.

The girl sighed. Clearly these two weren't going away. "Blake." she said shortly.

"Well Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister. I like your bow."

"Thanks."

"It goes great with your…pajamas." Yang said, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Right." Blake said, not taking her eyes off her book.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang asked.

"Yes, it's lovely." Blake said, apparently tired of being subtle. "Almost as lovely as this book" The sisters didn't move. "That I will continue to read." No change. "As soon as you leave."

"Yeah," Yang said turning to Ruby. "This girl's a lost cause."

"What's it about?" Ruby asked, gaining the first actual reaction from Blake of the evening.

"Huh?" the black haired girl wasn't sure if she heard right.

"You're book." Ruby clarified. "Does it have a name?"

"Well," now Blake sounded slightly unsure, like she wasn't used to people showing interest in what she liked. "It's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh yeah, that's real lovely." Yang said insincerely.

"Jekyll and Hyde." a rasping voice said from behind them. Rathan was walking over from where he's set up his sleeping bag with Draeg. He looked at Blake carefully. "An interesting read. Not one many people choose nowadays."

"Well I love books." Ruby said, smiling softly. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters, they're one of the reasons I want to be a huntress."

"Why is that?" Blake laughed slightly. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will." Ruby answered. "As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"That's very ambitious for a child." Blake said, lowering her book. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well, that's why we're here. To make it better." Ruby replied.

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang cheered, walking over and hugging her sister around the waist, actually lifting the red haired girl of her feet.

"Gah! Cut it out!" Ruby snapped, punching her sister in the face, and together the two of them descended into a cloud of comical violence. Rathan and Blake exchanged looks as they watched the dust cloud.

"Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to-" Blake began, but was cut off by the angry voice of the Schnee heiress.

"What in the world is going on over here!" she snapped, making Ruby and Yang break of their fight. The white haired girl had her hair down and was wearing a light blue sleeping gown. The sisters froze with Ruby holding Yang's foot a waist level, making the blond wave her arms around to keep her balance. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep!" Then she caught sight of Ruby who'd just let go of her sister's foot.

"Oh not you again!" Weiss and Yang shouted at each other.

"Shhh!" Ruby tried to hush them. "Guy's she's right, people are trying to sleep."

"Oh, now you're on my side!" Weiss snapped.

"I was always on your side!" Ruby shot back.

"Yeah what's your problem with my sister?" Yang asked angrily. "She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss yelled.

"You know, for wanting people to be quiet, you're making an awful lot of noise." an amused voice spoke up from behind the heiress. The white haired girl turned sharply, an acid remark on the tip of her tongue, only to come face to face with Draeg. More accurately due to the height difference, she was met face first with Draeg's abs. The remark died in her throat as a dark blush spread steadily up her face. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then turned and walked off without another word. Draeg turned to look after her as she went. "What's up with her?" he wondered, not noticing the knowing smirk forming on Yang's face.

Rolling her eyes at the teen drama, Blake reached out to pick up the candelabra that had been acting as her reading light and blew it out. Instantly darkness descended on the ballroom. "Wow. That was one bright candle." the voice of the boy with the hoodie said from somewhere off in the darkness.

* * *

Rathan's dark orange eyes opened when the sky was still dark. Draeg had practically force his medicine down his throat that previous evening, so he'd slept for around five hours, much more than he normally got. Grabbing his things from the small pile next to him and crossed to the empty locker room. Dressing quickly, the reaper grabbed his weapons and silently left the building. Looking up at the tall building, barely silhouetted in the pre-dawn light. Moving silently he began to climbing the wall.

It was the sunlight streaming in from the outside that woke Draeg. Looking off to his side, the dark skinned teen sighed but wasn't surprised to find Rathan's sleeping bag empty. His long time friend had demons that made sleep almost unattainable for him. The sleeping pills that Draeg had practically shoved down his throat the night before worked, but they were highly addictive, making them a last resort. The two capsules he'd made Rathan take should have knocked him out until sunset the next day, but he knew that his friend would be up and about before anyone else. And there he was, walking through the doors of the ballroom and over to where Draeg was sitting up and pulling on his shirt. For once looking down at the taller swordsman Rathan raised an eyebrow. "What?" Draeg asked. But Rathan just shook his head and walked over to the cafeteria. Draeg looked bewilderedly over at Ruby and Yang, the latter of whom burst out laughing as soon as she saw him. Ruby wasn't much better, clamping a hand over her mouth to prevent her from joining her sister rolling around on the floor. "What?!" he demanded a bit more forcefully, but the sisters were too busy trying not to laugh to answer.

Storming into the locker rooms Draeg walked up to Weiss, who looked like she was about to ambush a girl with long red hair and bronze armor. The girl in red glanced up as he approached and turned her head away, trying to hide her laughter. Tapping Weiss on the shoulder the red clad teen pointed forcefully to his face, as her eyes widened in shock. "What is on my face?" he asked as she spluttered incomprehensibly. The heiress spluttered for a few more seconds, apparently trying to find the words, until eventually she pulled out a compact and opened it in his face. Draeg's dark brown skin was covered in marker doodles. He had glasses drawn around his eyes, massive extensions drawn around his eyebrows.

"What the-What?!" Draeg exclaimed, grabbing the mirror and getting a better look at the markings covering his face. "Who did this?" he growls, looking around. He scanned the other students intently for a few seconds. It didn't take him long to notice the black marker sticking out of one person's pocket. Walking over, Draeg loomed behind the form of the hoodie wearing boy from yesterday.

"Can I help-holy crap! What happened to your face?" the boy said turning around to face Draeg. Without saying a word Draeg reached down and pulled the black marker from the other boys pocket. "What? Oh crap-" the smaller boy said when he realized what happened. Grabbing him by the collar Draeg lifted the other boy into his open locker and closed the door. Then he strode into the bathroom to wash the marker off his face.

* * *

The four former signal students ate quickly since none of them had much of an appetite, and were soon standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking a large forest with the rest of the Beacon hopefuls. In front of them stood Professor Ozpin, and Professor Goodwtich. "For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin told them, holding his signature mug.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams."Goodwitch spoke, holding her scroll open. "Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

"What?" Rathan heard Ruby whispered dejectedly.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued, making Ruby whimper even more. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Draeg shook his head, he could almost hear Ruby's world shattering around her. And everyone heard the load 'WHAT!'

"See, I told you." An orange haired girl said to a boy dressed in green next to her.

Ozpin continued as if neither of them had spoken. "Once you've been partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." The headmaster's eyes scanned over the assembled initiates, noting their reactions. The blonde with a sword gulped nervously, and a boy with black and pink hair nodded seriously. A tall dark skinned teen grinned, while the boy dressed all in black next to him narrowed his eyes. Another boy, with a white hood covering most of his features actually laughed. And finally a pale skinned teen dressed in green bandages failed to react. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliffs. You will guard that item, as well as your standing and be graded appropriately. Any questions?"

"Um, yeah, Sir?" the blonde who'd worn the blue bunny pajamas the night before asked.

"Good!" Ozpin exclaimed as if he hadn't heard him. "Now take your positions."

Rathan rolled his eyes. They annoying blonde just didn't get it. They were on their own. Turning his head to look past the boy in black to Draeg, the two locked eyes and nodded. They had a plan. Then the metal platform beneath Rathan's feet launched him upwards and into the air.

* * *

Rafus let out a whoop as he was launched off the cliff. This sensation! The weightlessness, the freedom! This is what he lived for! Looking down the white clad teen watched as one by one the other students were launched off the cliff, starting with the scary one in green. As soon as he reached his the top of his arc however, Rafus was quick to activate the metal backpack he'd strapped to his back. With a mechanical whir, the metal wings deployed, catching the air and increasing his air time. From his place above them, the gunslinger watched carefully where each of the prospective huntsmen landed, and how. The busty blonde that he'd tried to flirt with the night before was rocking it with her gauntlets, using the force from firing them to propel herself further and further before disappearing into the tree line. Her scary friend pulled a daring stunt, by diving at the trees, only to reach up and grab a branch at the last moment. The massive swordsman just fell, landing with a resounding crash that seemed to shake the earth. The white haired girl, with the of center ponytail created some kind of symbol out of nowhere, landing of that, then creating another one and leaping down until she landed safely. The other girl, the younger one, pulled out a massive weapon, most likely in a compacted form and began fire shots off below her, using the recoil to slow her descent, but still crashing through a tiny Nevermore, then unfolding her weapon into a massive scythe, and hooking a tree branch with it, swinging around and landing. But none of them were what really caught his attention. They boy in black that he'd been hanging out with the day before had pulled out his scroll and began typing something on it. The next thing Rafus knew, one of the lockers they stored their stuff in the night before came rocketing past him as the boy flipped in midair. For a brief instant Rafus thought he saw a blue glow coming from the bottom of the other teen's boots, but as soon as he saw it they made contact with the locker as the teen began to SURF his LOCKER down!

"Okay, that is way too cool." Rafus grinned, partially retracting the wings and diving. He made it through the trees just in time to see the black haired boy leap off his locker and onto a tree branch just before the locker hit the ground. "I have to say," he said, landing gently on another branch, "That was impressive. You've got style." They boy whipped around, long metal cables emerging from the bracers on his forearms. "Woah, easy there! We're partners, remember?" The boy paused, looking Rafus over. Then he nodded, retracting the metal whips. The metal cords pulled back up the teens arms, dissapering into the shoulders of his sleeveless coa, the blades at the end clipping silently into the leather bracers on his forearms. Rafus waited for a minute, but the other teen didn't seem inclined to talk. "Well, anyway, I'm Rafus. I guess we'll be partners while we're here." He held out a hand to the quiet eastern boy who studied him for a moment longer before taking his hand.

"Itam."

The voice was smooth and deep, not at all what Rafus had been expecting. "Itam, huh? Nice to meet you. We should probably get going." Itam nodded, then took a step forward and simply dropped off the branch, landing soundlessly on the forest floor below. "Man," Rafus muttered to himself. "Talk about style." Then he too made a small jump and landed lightly on the ground next to his partner.

* * *

Rathan dropped out of the tree he's used to catch sight of Draeg as he flew past. Judging by the sound of the impact, he hadn't ended up too far away. Which made the reapers job easier. Unfurling his weapons and extending his senses Rathan made his way through the trees, making sure to keep his eyes trained on the ground and his other senses extended. Turning in the direction that Draeg had landed, Rathan raced through the forest, his senses on high alert, not only for the Grimm, but for other prospective students as well. There was no way he was going to be teamed up with anyone but Draeg. He'd kill himself. Or them. To be perfectly honest, that last one was a lot more likely. A few Beowolves tried to attack, but the young reaper was in no mood for delays, and made quick work of the monsters. He made his way through the thick trees and brush until he came across a large clearing with Draeg at the center. The swordsman was having the time of his life. A small hoard of Grimm were charging at him from almost every side, but they weren't doing very well. Each swing of Draeg's sword was more than enough to finish these weaklings. That is, if they ever got close enough to him. Every time Draeg swung his sword, an arc of red light flew from it, crashing through trees and Grimm alike. Narrowing his eyes, Rathan leaned to the right, barely dodging a force wave that knocked over a tree behind him. Growling slightly in annoyance Rathan started forward, running, leaping and twisting through the storm of red light that radiated almost at random. Not even bothering to draw his weapons for the few Grimm that he encountered on the way, Rathan either snapped their necks or simply shoved them into passing force waves. Finally he made it to where Draeg stood in the center of the new clearing and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you done?" the reaper asked his friend. "As entertaining as it would be to see you kill everything in the forest, we do have an objective."

Dreag just shrugged. "Yeah alright."

Taking a moment to survey the damage. "And was destroying a chunk of the forest really necessary?

Draeg just shrugged. "He said everything."

Rathan just grinned, a vicious bloodthirsty grin. Then a loud growl sounded off in the trees.

* * *

The rest of the journey to the temple went smoothly for Rafus, between him and his silent partner, no Grimm lasted long enough to pose a threat to them. Not only that, but their fighting styles seemed to covered the others weaknesses almost flawlessly. Rafus knew that he wasn't as adept at close range combat as most, but he more than made up for it with his skill with any form of long range combat. It seemed that Itam was the exact opposite, eliminating any enemy that came close but unable, or at least unwilling to fight any foe that exceeded the range of his whips. "Well, that went well." the white clad teen noted, attaching his twin pistols to the magnetic holsters on his thighs. Itam nodded, retracting the whips, and nodded towards a space ahead of them where the treeline thinned out, then dropped off entirely. "Yeah, that's it alright." Rafus agreed, peering through the gaps in the trees.

"Huh, looks like we're not the first ones here" a new voice said from behind them. Turning around Rafus grinned as he was once again treated to a look at the well endowed figure of the blonde bombshell from the night before. And with her was the black haired girl who wore the yukata. Of course now she was dressed in regular clothes, although the black bow on top was still present. "Hey guys!" the blonde called, waving at them. Grinning again, Rafus performed an extravagant bow to the two ladies, then a small figurine bonked him in the dead, knocking him off balance and making the two girls giggle slightly. "Was that really necessary?" the gunner asked, glaring over at his partner who simply shrugged. "What is this anyway? A horse?" he asked, picking up the black figurine.

"Aw, what a cute little pony." the blonde smiled before going over to pick up one of the same, only hers was gold. "I'm Yang by the way, and this is Blake." she told them, jabbing a thumb over at her partner.

"I'm Rafus, and this guy's Itam. He doesn't talk much."

"Man what is it about wearing black that makes people not talk?" Yang wondered aloud, looking between the other two.

Rafus shrugged "Beats me. Anyway, I guess that's-What was that?" Rafus cut himself off as a shrill scream echoed throughout the forest.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang said, sounding worried.

"Did either of you guys-What are you looking at?" Rafus cut himself off again as he noticed both Itam and Blake staring up at the sky in shock. Looking up, the gunman could only say, "Oh you have got to be kidding me!" as his his vision was filled with a terrified pair of silver eyes. But just before he could move out of the way, a second figure collided with the first in midair, sending them both crashing into a tree.

"What…just happened?" Blake asked no one in particular.

Rafus was trying to resist the urge to laugh. The younger girl in red had at least been fortunate enough to land on a branch as if she were sitting. The say could not be said for the skinny blonde boy who's collided with her, who now hung upside down from the tree branch right above her.

"Do I even what to know what's going on?" a deeper voice asked, snapping Rafus out of his amusement. It was the massive dark skinned swordsman who's stuffed him in his locker earlier that morning. And there, emerging from the trees beside him was the pale skinned, green clad reaper. His blazing orbs scanned the entire scene instantly, softening only slightly as he took in the sight of the blonde brawler and the little red reaper. Then his eyes locked onto the small figurines in the middle of the clearing and his brow furrowed.

"Chess?" he rasped, tilting his head to one side. "Draeg." he said, nodding his head at the tree the other two were in, before continuing into the ruins of the temple and picking up a black knight.

Draeg, Rafus figured he must have been the swordsman nodded, and walked over to the base of the tree. "Hold on tight you two." he called up, grinning.

"Hold on?" the skinny one asked nervously. "Ruby, why does he want us to hold on?"

"Never mind that Jaune," Ruby answered, turning around and wrapping her arms around as much trunk as she could. "Just hold on!" And with that Draeg lifted his leg, and slammed his foot into the trunk of the tree at waist height.

"Monty damn!" Rafus muttered as the wood of the decade old tree splintered and cracked, sending the entire tree, and both its passengers, crashing to the forest floor. Groaning the two of them clambered to their feet and stumbled towards the middle of the clearing.

"Did he just kick over a tree?" Blake asked. But before anyone could answer, a loud boom echoed throughout the clearing.

An Ursa came roaring into the clearing, waving its forelegs around wildly. "Yee-Haw!" a voice cheered, then there was a flash of pink, and the Grim fell to the ground, a girl with orange hair, dressed in a white outfit rolling off its back and onto her feet. "Aw, it's broken." she groaned, zipping back over to the monster to stand on its head and inspect her handywork. A boy, presumably her partner, stumbled out from behind the beast, panting with exhaustion.

"Nora?!" the boy called out between breaths. "Please…Don't ever do that again." But the girl had zipped off again, this time to the temple in the middle of the clearing and was gazing in awe at a golden rook.

Then to everyone's amazement, she began to strike ridiculous poses, balancing the relic first on her foot, then on her head, singing ' _I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!'_

"NORA!" the boy with her shouted, causing the girl to pause then giggle.

"Coming Ren!" she chirped, allowing the chess piece to slide of her head into her hand, then going over to join her friend.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked, once again, not aiming the question at anybody in particular.

"I-" Yang tried to formulate an answer, but before she could a furious screech sounded from one side. A giant scorpion like Grimm, a Deathstalker charged forward, knocking over trees in the process of chasing it's prey. In this case the bronze armored form of Pyrrha Nikos, a greatly respected figure in the competitive fighting circles. She nimbly leapt through and rolled under its snapping pincers.

"Jaune!" she called out, relieved to see the boy who was apparently her partner.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune and Rafus called back. Thinking quickly Rafus pulled out his pistols and fired two shots. The high caliber rounds slammed into the outermost eyes of the Deathstalker, causing it to reel back in pain.

"Rafus?" the red haired spartan skidded to a stop and realizing who'd helped her.

"Rafus?" Jaune asked, looking at the white clad sharpshooter.

"Itam!" the bubbly orange haired girl shouted, popping up in the middle of everyone, with her arms wrapped tightly around the silent student.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked, having mostly given up on getting an answer.

"I can't take it anymore!" Yang finally snapped, fire exploding around her and her eyes turning red. "Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again!" It was like there was a clock they could all hear. Even the hyperactive Nora stood relatively still for exactly two seconds.

"Did you get your two seconds?" Rafus asked, looking up. He'd been alerted by the sound of flapping wings, and he now knew why. "Because…" he trailed off, pointing up at the figure of the Schnee heiress clinging for dear life to the talon of a giant Nevermore.

"How could you leave me?" the white haired girl shouted to her partner.

"I said jump." Ruby replied, somewhat sheepishly.

"She's gonna fall." Blake told her.

"She'll be fine." Ruby assured him.

"She's falling." Ren said calmly.

Then, just as the screaming girl was about to hit the forest floor, she was caught, bridal style, in the broad arms of Draeg. "I don't even want to know." he sighed, completely missing the blush of her face as he set her down.

"Great!" Yang said sarcastically, "The gang's all here. Now we can die together."

"Not if I can help it." Ruby grinned,unfolding her scythe and charging the Deathstalker.

"The hell!" Rathan almost shouted as he watched the red haired girl recklessly charge the armored Grimm. It came as no surprise to him that Crescent Rose was ineffective. As dangerous a weapons as it might be, it just wasn't powerful enough to kill the Deathstalker.

Ruby found that out the hard way when she was smacked back by the armored shell of the Deathstalker. Her eyes widened as she realized that this wasn't a fight she could win. Collapsing Crescent Rose as she ran, the young reaper turned on her heel and bolted back towards her friends. She was about halfway there when she heard Rathan shouting them to cover her. Then she heard the Nevermore's cry.

"Ruby," Draeg shouted, drawing his sword, red light already radiating off of it. "Drop!" Ruby did what she was told, skidding to a halt and curling in on herself not a second too soon. Half a moment later a feather taller than her speared into the ground right where she would have been. A massive arc of red light passed overhead, knocking a barrage of feathers off track. Several of the others had sprung into action as well. Itam had extended his whips and was knocking any feathers that came close to their group out of the air. Rathan and Rafus had both merged their two weapons and were not firing a pair of sniper rifles at the eyes of the Deathstalker, hoping to slow it down. And Yang had charged forward, firing Ember Celica at any feather that got in her way as she raced toward her sister. But it wasn't enough. With her back to a feather as strong as steel, Ruby had nowhere to run as the tail of the Deathstalker came down.

Closing her eyes Ruby waited for the end. But it never came. Instead she heard a voice. "You are so childish."

Slowly. Barely able to believe it Ruby opened her eyes. "Weiss?"

"And dimwitted. And hyperactive. And don't even get me started on your fighting style." The heiress said as she pulled her rapier from where she'd stabbed it into the ground. "And I suppose I can be a bit…difficult." she admitted after a moment's hesitation. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if _you_ quit trying to show off, I'll be…nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off." Ruby told her earnestly. "I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine." Weiss assured her, walking back in the direction of the others.

Exhaling a long breath Ruby clasped her hands and said two words. "Normal knees." Then standing up, she realized exactly what had happened. The Deathstalkers stinger had been halted less than a foot away from her face, and the giant Grimm itself was stuck, struggling uselessly to get it's tail free. "Woah." she breathed in awe.

Hearing footsteps Ruby turned around just in time to be wrapped up in one of Yang's bearhugs. "I'm so happy you're okay!" Yang exclaimed, still hugging her sister tightly.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking!" a hoarse voice snarled, snapping both of them out of the sisterly moment. Rathan was storming over, his orange eyes blazing. "You're lucky I'm not calling Qrow! Are you insane!" he nearly shouted, causing Ruby to shrink back. She'd seen Rathan angry, it had just never been directed at her before.

"Look, we can deal with how the hot redhead rushed into things later, but right now we've got bigger issues." Rafus called out. "That thing's circling back, and I don't think that ice is going to last much longer."

"You're right." Draeg nodded. "Plus, there's another reason we should hurry."

"Another? You don't mean like another giant Grimm do you?" Jaune gulped nervously.

A moment later a loud howl sounded and a shadow launched itself from the trees into the clearing.

Ten of them stared, while the other two grit their teeth. "You have got to be kidding me!" Rafus broke the silence a second later. "A Beringal? Where did you two even find that thing?"

"I'd like to know that too, but for now we should move." the voice of Lie Ren urged.

"You heard the man! Run for it!" Nora shouted.

"Grab a relic and head for the cliffs!" Rathan ordered as Draeg forced a black knight piece into Itam's hands and shoved him in the direction of the cliffs. Grabbing the gold one he tossed it to Ruby as Jaune picked up a golden rook.

"What is it?" Blake asked her partner, who'd stopped for a minute to watch.

"Oh nothing." Yang said with a soft smile as she watched her friends rally the others.

* * *

The group of students raced through the forest, all fully aware of the massive creatures close behind them.

"Come on. This has got to be some kind of sick joke." Rafus complained as he fired a few shots over his shoulder at the Deathstalker. "I mean, where did you even find this thing Pyrrha?"

"We entered a cave while looking for the relics." Pyrrha answered, he long red hair streaming behind her as she ran.

"What were you doing in a cave?" Blake asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Ooh! Maybe they were trying to be explorers! Or even better, treasure hunters!" the energetic girl, Nora exclaimed.

"Actually we were just lost." Jaune admitted sheepishly making the orange haired girl groan in disappointment.

"How about we focus on the three massive Grimm that want us all dead for now and we can worry about whether or not Jaune is a treasure hunter later?" Draeg asked, as they ran.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Glynda asked Ozpin as she watched the teens on her scroll. "We were never expecting Grimm of this size or power to show themselves during the initiation."

Ozpin seemed to muse on this for a moment before speaking. "Don't interfere. Not yet. Let us see if they have what it takes to succeed in the face of this adversity."

"But they're only students!" Glynda protested. Surely he wasn't serious?

"And this is where we will turn them into the defenders of the world. But first we must know the full extent of their capabilities." Ozpin replied calmly, unfazed by her outburst. Glynda glared, but turned back to the scroll without another word.

* * *

Rathan's eyes blitzed over the surrounding area as they finally reached the ruins at the base of the cliff. "Ruby, Yang, Rafus." He called out. "I want you three with me. We're taking down that Nevermore. Get up as high as you can, then hit it with everything you've got."

"Right." Ruby nodded, cocking her sniper rifle. Without another word she vanished in a blur of rose petals. Yang grinned, pumping her own fists to activate her weapon. She winked at Rathan then charged off after her sister.

Rafus nodded and turned to Draeg. "Hey Gigantor, mind giving me a boost?" he asked, nodding upwards. Draeg cocked an eyebrow but reached out and grabbed the gunner by his scruff and belt, then with a massive heave, launched him into the air. The white clad teen let out an exhilarated whoop as he rocketed into the air.

"Draeg, I need you to take Nora, Pyrrha and Jaune to take down that Deathstalker." Rathan directed, his eyes scanning the assembled students.

"Understood." Draeg said standing up. "You three heard the man. You guys are with me."

"Very well." Pyrrha agreed while Nora cheered, none of them noticing Jaune's gulp of fear.

Rathan turned to the others. "That leaves the rest of you to take on the Beringel."

"Hold on!" Weiss snapped. "Just who do you think you are giving us orders like this?" she asked indignantly.

Fast as lightning Rathan had lashed out and wrapped a hand around the heiress's throat. "If you wanna fight then we can do it when these things are dead and gone. We don't have time to go around electing arguing. So I'm going to make this simple. You do what I told you to do or I'll get rid of you hear and now. Are. We. Clear." he growled, his voice low and soft. Gagging, it was all Weiss could do to nod. "Good." He dropped her and raced after Ruby and Yang, who had already found perches on the pillars that were scattered around the ruins.

"What are you all standing around for?" Draeg asked as he hauled Weiss to her feet. "You've got your orders. Move!" Still shaken, Weiss pulled out her rapier and went to stand beside Blake as a loud crash resounded from the treeline. A second later the Deathstalker smashed its way through the the last of the trees separating it from the twelve of them. With a loud roar, Draeg brought his sword down, releasing an arc of red light that slammed into Grimm sending it skidding back.

"Here it comes!" Ren said, readying his weapons. He was proven right less than a minute later as the Beringel launched itself out of the trees, scattering the third group. Without another word Itam and Ren looked at each other and charged as one.

* * *

""Pyrrha, I need you and Jaune to cover Nora and I." Draeg told the redhead as he leapt out of the way of the golden stinger.

"Understood." the spartan nodded, slashing at the Deathstalkers left claw.

"Who cares about planning, let's just smash it!" Nora cheered, bringing her hammer down on top of the giant Grimm, stunning it.

"We've been smashing it for a while now." Jaune reminded them. "But we're not doing any reall damage to it."

"Then we hit it harder!" Draeg told him, charging back into the fray.

* * *

"This thing just doesn't know when to die?" Rathan growled, firing another shot at the glowing red eye of his foe."

"No kidding." Yang nodded. "It's tougher than it looks."

"Then we hit it with everything we've got." Ruby nodded. The older two teens shared a look, then turned their attention back to the Nevermore. However the Nevermore had finally had enough. With the two snipers on the ground, along with the high impact fireballs that kept slamming into its face it would have been more than happy to unleash a barrage of feathers and wipe them out, but every time it turned it's attention to the insects on the ground it was harrassed by the gnat circling above it's head. Screeching with fury the Nevermore dove at the ruins, intent on knocking them into the canyon below.

"You guys have incoming!" Rafus shouted as he watched the Nevermore tuck in it's wings.

Rathan's eyes widened at the warning. "Move!" he shouted, just as the Grimm started to dive. But it wasn't just the three of them that were displaced by the bird shaped wrecking ball. The team that had been harassing the Beringel was forced to scatter as the Gorilla Grimm leapt over the bird in a disturbingly coordinated move.

Forced to leap over the sides to avoid being crushed, the four teens were fortunately able to find ways of making it back to solid ground. Blake and Itam both used their weapons as grappling hooks, the bladed ends biting deep into the stone and allowing them to swing to safety. But while Itam had landed behind the Beringel, Blake had landed on the Nevermore's back and rand down the length of it, slashing as she went. Ren used the blades of his Stormflower to find purchase in the falling rocks, allowing him to use them to to climb back to the treeline near the Deathstalker. Weiss on the other hand prefered to create her own platforms. With a thought she created a series of glyphs to stand on and leap of off, landing back on the ruins next to Blake. Unfortunately the Nevermore had destroyed the bridge connecting the center of the ruins from the treeline. With Itam now it's only enemy the Beringel wasted no time in landing a vicious backhand that sent the chain wielder flying off into the canyon.

Looking down, Rafus gritted his teeth as he watched his partner falling. "Hang on pal, I'm coming." he muttered, folding in his own wings and diving after his silent companion.

With five of them the huntsmen in training were now finally causing some visible damage to the Nevermore. So intent was Rathan on bringing down the demonic bird that he failed to notice the Beringel approaching from behind. Luckily for him, Draeg did not. The dark skinned teen had been knocked to the ground by a blow from the Deathstalker. And while it didn't really hurt it had more than enough force to knock him through the air until he landed on his stomach. Looking up he watched as the Beringel approached his partner. "Oh no you don't!" he bellowed, charging at the Grimm. When he was just about to run off the edge he leapt into the air, surprising everyone fighting the Deathstalker by easily managing to clear the gap. His landing was particularly grateful for someone of his size. He landed in a roll and came up running. He slammed into the Beringel just as it had made it halfway up the stone pillar that Rathan had been using as a perch.

Shaken out of his tunnel vision by the sudden loss of footing Rathan looked down as he fell, noting the Beringel and Draeg in an instant and realized what had happened. "Thanks." he nodded to Draeg as they stood shoulder to shoulder. The Beringel roared, but before it could charge it was distracted by a hail of bullets that shot up from the canyon only to arc back down and slam into it's back.

"Sorry about the delay. Are we late for the party?"

"Nope." Draeg grinned as the black and white clad initiates clambered back onto the floor of the ruins. "You're just in time. Nice semblance by the way."

"What can I say? I'm incredible." Rafus grinned back until he was smacked on the back of the head by his partner. "Right. Focusing."

Rathan glowered at the Beringel as it watched them, beating it's chest in a vain attempt to intimidate them. Then he noticed the two pillars behind it. "I know what to do." he told them, switching his weapon into it's melee form, a massive curved scythe.

"That's great." Rafus told him, nodding sagely. "And? You mind filling the rest of us in?"

"Just push it back!" Rathan ordered, pulling Itam off to one side.

"I'll push you back." Rafus grumbled as he switched to a pair of machine guns. Draeg watched in fascination as the cocky teen hit a series of small buttons on the grip of his weapon and the guns seemed to come apart, turning into blocks that rearranged themselves into a completely different set of guns. Rathan rejoined them a minute later, but Itam wasn't with him. The the three of them laid into the Beringel, which had decided that it had grown tired of waiting and had ripped up a chunk of stone to throw at them.

"I really hate it when these things get smart." Draeg said, launching a forcewave to intercept the incoming projectile.

"No kidding." Rafus agrees, firing at the Beringel, his every shot hitting it in the face. The beast growled in frustration as it stumbled back raising one arm to cover its face from the storm of bullets. The Itam was there. Somehow he had managed to sneak around behind the Beringel with none of them noticing. He raced at the Beringel from behind and to Rafus's great surprise raced up it's back, using the beast itself to launch himself higher into the air. At the peak of his arc he flipped and flung out his arms. With a flick of his wrist the spear tipped whips came shooting out, and pierced the wrists of the gigantic Grimm. With another flick he'd let out enough of the metal cords to wrap them around the two pillars now off to either side of their foe. LAnding solidly Itam pulled, and actually managed to pull the Beringel's arms out to the sides, effectively restraining it.

"Rafus! Cripple it!" Rathan shouted, racing forward from where he'd been standing behind Rafus and Draeg.

"On it!" Hitting yet another combination on his weapon the gunman was now holding as sniper rifle yet again. But unlike before, this rifle had two barrels. Three loud cracks rang out in less than a second, and Rathan took that as his cue to leap into the air. He straightened out his body until it was parallel with the ground, spinning as he did. In midair six bullets formed a circle around him, each one slamming into an undefended part of what was now a large and stationary target. The beringel bellowed in pain as a bullet slammed into each eye, the inner part of its elbows and to its ankles. Roaring, it fell to it's knees as Draeg let out tow force waves to destroy the two pillars that were now serving to hold the beast upright. With no more support the Beringel fell forward right at Rathan who'd landed and braced both himself and his weapon against the ground, the scythe blade not pointing up, creating a vicious looking spear. Unable to stop or defend itself the Beringel howled one last time in the face of it's death as the spear tip pierced the center of its chest.

Rathan stood slowly, his eyes changing from a glowing white back to their original dark orange as the Beringel dissolved around him. It made for an intimidating picture Itam mussed as he watched the scythe blade flick back to its standard position. His thoughts were interrupted as Rafus came up to him and collapsed with an exaggerated sigh. "That was easily one of the most insane things I have ever-What it that?" Itam followed his partners gaze. It wasn't difficult to see what had caught his attention. A line of white circles, the Schnee glyphs, had appeared on the surface of the cliff, running from the bottom to the to. And a small red blur raced up that line, dragging with it the helpless Nevermore. When it reached the top the Nevermore put up a moment of resistance, but it was far from enough as the hooked blade of the young girls scythe severed its head from its body. And there she was, standing atop the cliff, her red cloak fluttering in the breeze and still shedding rose petals. "That was hot." Rafus told him, his eyes still locked on the lone figure.

* * *

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Professor Ozpin announced, calling out the names of the four boys who currently stood on stage. "The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forth you shall work together as team CRDL (Cardinal). Lead by Carin Winchester." The four boys left the stage to the applause of the other students.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as team JNPR (Juniper)." Nora was so ecstatic to be on the same team as her lifelong friend that she couldn't help but hug him, laughing happily. "Lead by, Jaune Arc!"

Hearing this, Jaune cringed, while Pyrrha beamed at him. "Lead by?" he gulped.

"Congratulations young man." Ozpin nodded quietly. Unable to contain herself anymore, Pyrrha punched Jaune playfully in the shoulder. Unfortunately this sent him sprawling, much to their chagrin and the crowds amusement.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team RWBY (Ruby). Lead by…Ruby Rose."

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang cheered, hugging Ruby tightly.

"And finally. Rafus Rixam, Draeg Miles, Itam Kelleram, and Rathan Messor. The four of you retrieved the Black Knight pieces. From this day on, you shall work together as team RIDR (Rider). Lead by, Rathan Messor." Grinning, Draeg reached over and slapped a hand on Rathan's shoulder. "It looks like it's going to be an interesting year." Ozpin said.

* * *

 _Like I said in my last chapter, please read and review. I know there isn't much now, but I am working on putting more out there. Considering how long and how hard each of us has been working on team RIDR, it's embarrassing that there isn't more published and as the writer of the team that's on me. My team and I have worked on these OC's steadily since before season one had finished. We have worked long and hard to not only make sure that they fit in with the lore and world of RWBY, but also to make sure that each of them is original and interesting. We would also be happy to hear about and possibly include other OC indaviduals or teams. PM me if you're interested._

 _Orriginally this was going to be a chapter in and of itself. But after seeing how short it was, I'm really not used to writing in depth combat, it just didn't seem fair to you all to claim this was a full chapter. My team and I, Matthias the Wanderer, NoahOdinson and JWR Cromwell are all fairly pleased with out things turned out considering that this was out first in depth combat scene. Again, if you have thoughts or questions please leave a review, and if you have an OC or group of OC's that you would like us to include then please PM me. We make no guarantees about them being included but I would be more than willing to help any other RWBY fans out there develop there own characters._


End file.
